The Los Angeles Kings haven’t yet reclaimed the mojo they found last spring on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.

Despite being gutted by injuries on defense, the Blue Jackets felt like they whiffed on a chance last night to extend the Kings’ sluggish start.

But a fast start by the Blue Jackets fizzled after one period, the power play flopped at a crucial moment early in the third, and the Kings took a 4-2 victory before 11,019 in Nationwide Arena.

“I didn’t think they did anything special,” said Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson, who was traded from the Kings to the Jackets last February. “Our power play wasn’t very good tonight. It didn’t generate a lot of scoring chances. We were disorganized, not very in synch.

“I think it was more our undoing than their doing to be honest with you.”

The Blue Jackets, though, went long stretches in the final two periods without a shot. The longest stretch was 18:28, from the time Brassard scored at 5:36 of the second period until Artem Anisimov put a back-hander on Kings goalie Jonathan Quick at 4:04 of the third.

That drought encompassed part of a four-minute power play for the Blue Jackets starting at 1:59 of the third which turned out to be the final gasp for the Jackets.

The Jackets trailed only 3-2 at that point.

But in those four minutes, the Blue Jackets put one shot on goal — Anisimov’s.

“We never got set up,” Blue Jackets winger R.J. Umberger said. “They disrupted our breakout and got us off-kilter. We never got it under control there.

“The game was right there for us to win. It’s a huge opportunity for us at that part of the game.”

The Blue Jackets were playing with four of their regular defensemen out of the lineup — James Wisniewski, Nikita Nikitin, John Moore and Adrian Aucoin.

Their replacements — David Savard, Tim Erixon, Nick Holden and Cody Goloubef — had played a combined 59 NHL games before last night’s game.

Typically, Wisniewski and Nikitin play the points. With them out, the Blue Jackets used Brassard and center Mark Letestu in that spot.

“I think it had something to do with it,” coach Todd Richards said. “But they’re good players; they’re NHL players. They’ve played in that position before, but obviously it was somewhat new.

“We had to be better as a group of five. Even when pucks did get into the zone, they won more battles.”

Kings forward Jeff Carter, who was traded by Columbus last February, was booed virtually every time he touched the puck. That was especially true after Carter shoveled the puck into the crease at 4:25 of the second period with the Kings on the power play.

The puck bounced off a skate of Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin and split Mason’s pads.

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